California drought requires urgent action

Peter Gleick

Updated 3:36 pm, Saturday, July 26, 2014

If California and much of the West is suffering from severe drought, then why have the responses to it been weak and largely ineffective? The answers are as complicated as California's water system itself, with our wildly diverse sources and uses of water, prices and water rights, institutions, and more. But here are some observations.

By almost any definition, the current drought is severe. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which provides a rough measure of natural conditions, shows 100 percent of California to be in "severe" drought or worse. Other indicators, such as reservoir levels, river flows, water available to farmers and fish, fire risk and stream temperatures, also highlight the drought's severity. This year will be one of the driest on record, and it is the third dry year in a row.

Based on these data, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in January and asked Californians to voluntarily reduce water use by 20 percent. The state also announced the availability of nearly $700 million for drought emergency relief. Yet, six months later and in the hottest, driest time of the year, the state has little progress to show.

Few water agencies or users have aggressively acted to save water. Statewide water use has increased over last year. The governor's declaration was not followed by mandatory restrictions or wide distribution of information on how homeowners, farmers and businesses could save water.

Some agencies have put up billboards urging people to stop wasting water, but few customers have gotten serious requests to reduce use or detailed information telling them how to save water. People don't know what to do, or don't know they should be doing anything, because no one is telling them. Yet, as the newest statewide poll shows, a remarkable three-quarters of the population favors far stronger actions

Photo: Erick Wong, The Chronicle

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Photo: Erick Wong, The Chronicle

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 15: Sprinklers water a lawn in Golden Gate Park on July 15, 2014 in San Francisco, California. As the California drought continues to worsen and voluntary conservation is falling well below the suggested 20 percent, the California Water Resources Control Board is considering a $500 per day fine for residents who waste water on landscaping, hosing down sidewalks and car washing. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) less

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 15: Sprinklers water a lawn in Golden Gate Park on July 15, 2014 in San Francisco, California. As the California drought continues to worsen and voluntary conservation is falling well ... more

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

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A sprinkler system sprays water onto a parked car along the curb in Glendale, Calif., Wednesday, July 9, 2014. For the first time since the drought of the 1970s, state officials are looking to drive water conservation through mandatory restrictions, with fines of up to $500 for violators. A proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board, to be considered Tuesday, July 15, 2014 in Sacramento, would bar residents from spraying down sidewalks, driveways and patios, watering lawns or gardens to the point of causing runoff, washing cars without a shut-off nozzle, and using potable water in fountains. (AP Photo/Matt Hamilton) less

A sprinkler system sprays water onto a parked car along the curb in Glendale, Calif., Wednesday, July 9, 2014. For the first time since the drought of the 1970s, state officials are looking to drive water ... more

Photo: Matt Hamilton, Associated Press

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Owner Elaine Newton walks with her daughter Ashleigh Newton along the family-owned Rancheria Marina docks and boat ramps that are now idle, at Huntington Lake due to historically low water levels on July 10, 2014. (Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times/MCT) less

Owner Elaine Newton walks with her daughter Ashleigh Newton along the family-owned Rancheria Marina docks and boat ramps that are now idle, at Huntington Lake due to historically low water levels on July 10, ... more

Photo: Mark Boster, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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Water pours out of a hose after a worker washes the sidewalk in front of a business in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. on Friday, July 18, 2014. The California State Water Resources Control Board passed an emergency measure that sets fines of as much as $500 a day on residential and business property owners if they overwater lawns to the point that runoff flows onto streets or sidewalks. Photographer: Kevork Djansezian/Bloomberg less

Water pours out of a hose after a worker washes the sidewalk in front of a business in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. on Friday, July 18, 2014. The California State Water Resources Control Board passed ... more

Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Bloomberg

California drought requires urgent action

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In short, we're in denial. Why?

Unlimited high-quality water still comes out of our faucets at a cost far below that of our other utilities, such as power or cable.

Farmers with senior-water rights still will get all or most of their water allocation, with little incentive to conserve.

Initial projections from the University of California suggest that even in this third year of drought, the agricultural community as a whole will not have a bad year.

Some farmers and communities are buying replacement water from others or drilling costly wells to allow them to expand use of unregulated groundwater at the expense of their neighbors and the environment.

Junior-water-rights holders, however - who will never get all the water they want, even in wet years - will have supplies cut the most and are hoping for political solutions to natural shortages. Or, they are increasing unsustainable groundwater pumping in a race to the bottom of the well.

State law requires urban areas to meter all water use by 2025, but the drought adds new urgency. There is no way to get water customers to conserve because there is no measure of the success of their actions. Some customers already have conserved and resent being asked to do more while their neighbors do little.

And overall, we hope that Mother Nature, in the form of El Niño, will bail us out next year.

In effect, California's economy has become largely insulated from the effects of short-term drought - even droughts lasting years. But water is a limited resource and we will undermine our economy and our well-being if we don't address unsustainable water use now.

There are plenty of things that could be done - and should have been done long ago:

-- Require utilities to redesign rates if they are postponing water conservation and efficiency programs because revenues might drop.

-- Lose the lawn. It is time for green lawns to be permanently replaced by beautiful, but water-conserving, gardens.

-- Reward water users who have already made great strides at conserving; expand efforts to reach their less-water-savvy neighbors.

-- Accelerate allocation of the state's emergency drought funds, with priority given to the most proven and cost-effective strategies for saving water: programs for farmers and urban residents to install efficient irrigation systems; incentives to get homeowners to permanently replace lawns, inefficient toilets, showerheads and washing machines; and policies that expand wastewater and storm water use.

-- Encourage residents to engage with local water agencies; to follow their actions and to vote.

Next year might be wet, but it could just as well be dry. Even in wet years, we have serious unresolved water problems. If we fail to act, we will be at risk of waking up, turning on the tap, and getting nothing but air.

Californians' top environmental concern

Water supply, according to July 8-15 survey of 1,705 adult residents. Here's the question:

Would you say the supply of water is a big problem, somewhat of a problem or not much of a problem in your part of California?

Big problem 54%

Somewhat of a problem 25%

Not much of a problem 21%

Don't know 1%

Would you favor or oppose your local water district imposing water-use reduction?

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